by Bobbi Smith
"I hate you, Malone!" Her fury was beyond control. She began to fight and kick, trying to break free any way she could.
"Hate me all you want, honey, but let's face it. It's your fault your father got himself killed. If Slade had let me have at you that night instead of protecting you like he did, your daddy would still be alive."
Alyssa had never experienced mindless rage before, but she did now. There was no thought of saving herself, there was only the driving, primitive need to see this man dead. Giving a violent twist to one side, she managed to dislodge him so that he let go of one hand. In that instant, she tried to dig in her pocket for her gun, but he grabbed her and stilled her movements.
"What are you trying to do?" he asked, growing irritated by her continued struggles. "Lie still, bitch. It's time now. I want what's mine!"
He ripped at her chemise, baring her breasts to his view. She fought him even harder. He grew angrier and slapped her, splitting her lip.
At his blow, Alyssa screamed in pain and frustration.
When Slade had started in toward the campsite, he'd sent Ken to the south rim of the canyon and Hawkins to the north. Brown had stayed back out of sight near the entrance with the horses, just in case Alyssa somehow managed to escape on her own. If she did, he could stop her there and protect her until they returned.
Slade had been slowly making his way on foot through the rocky terrain, staying off the main trail and avoiding places where the Kid might be able to catch sight of him. But when the sound of Alyssa's scream came echoing through the night to him, the unrelenting terror of it pierced him to the depths of his soul.
No longer able to restrain himself, Slade charged forward. He had meant to be cautious in his assault. He had meant to outsmart the Kid, to outmaneuver him and entrap him before he and Zeke could hurt anyone else, but Alyssa's cry erased any intention he'd had of moving slowly. There was no time. She was in danger now. He had to go to her. He had to save her.
Zeke's physical abuse only enraged Alyssa even more. She was not subdued by his brutality, but empowered by it. She did not stop struggling with him, but fought harder against his cruel attack.
"Shut her up!" the Kid commanded angrily. "Gag her if you have to!"
"All right!"
Zeke had wanted to cow Alyssa by hitting her, to have her begging him not to strike her again. He hadn't thought she'd fight back. She was a nasty little bitch, but he was sure going to enjoy the final act when they got to it. And it wouldn't be long now. He clamped a hand over her mouth to silence her, never knowing that his move gave her just the freedom she needed to go for her gun.
"You need help?" the Kid called out to Zeke, witnessing his continuing struggles with the woman. "I'll be glad to come hold her down for you, if you ain't man enough to take care of it yourself. Or maybe you need help some other way?"
"Hell, no, I don't need your help! We're just enjoying each other, that's all," Zeke ground out.
He was angry that the lady judge wasn't surrendering to him easily, angry that he had to keep fighting her, and angry at the Kid for his insulting remarks. As hard as it was proving to be to take her, though, he knew it would be all the more sweet once he'd put it to her. A little rough stuff always made sex better for him.
Alyssa got her hand in her pocket just as Zeke pushed her skirt up to her waist and shifted his weight to free himself from his pants.
"You grabbing for me, honey?" he asked, feeling her hand between their bodies and believing that she was finally coming around to his way of thinking. "You're gonna like what I'm going to give you.... Let me help you a little. Move your hand this way," he encouraged her, smiling. He liked her feisty and struggling, though, so he deliberately taunted her again. "You know your daddy wouldn't mind you doing me this way tonight. He'd probably want to watch us, seeing as how pretty you are and all-"
Those words were the final ones Zeke Malone would ever say. At his filthy suggestion, Alyssa was pushed beyond all reason. She only knew hatred and the driving need to avenge both her father's death and Rob's. She didn't even bother to pull the gun out of her pocket. As her hand closed on it, she twisted it around and pointed it up at Zeke's most vital organs.
Then she pulled the trigger.
The sound of the shot echoed through the night.
Zeke's body jerked violently.
"You-you bitch-" he gasped in shocked horror, and then he collapsed on top of her.
Alyssa heard the Kid shouting as he came running down from his vantage point, and she reacted quickly. She pushed Zeke's dead weight off her and grabbed his six-gun from the holster where he'd laid it on the ground near them. A shot hit the dirt near her; she stayed low and ran for cover out of the light of the campfire. As soon as she was safely behind some rocks, Alyssa took aim and fired off a round at the Kid as he came running into the clearing.
"Zeke! What the hell-?" the Kid yelled as he charged back the way he'd come.
Alyssa didn't make a sound. She didn't want him to know where she was hiding. She only had five bullets left and couldn't afford to waste any of them without a clear shot. A silent prayer was on her lips that somewhere out there in the moonless darkness of the night, Slade had heard the shooting and was on his way.
The sound of the gunfire sent Slade running toward the campsite at full speed. He was terrified that Alyssa had been wounded or killed. He had to get to her! He had to help her!
Casting all concern about his own safety to the wind, he drew his gun and rushed headlong toward the flickering light of the campfire ahead. When he reached the edge of the clearing, he stopped. He saw Zeke's body on the far side of the fire, but there was no sign of Alyssa or the Kid.
"Alyssa!"
Slade had barely called her name when a shot hit the tree near his head. He instantly dove for cover.
"You're early, Braxton!" the Kid shouted at him from somewhere across the way. "The note I left for you said to show up at dawn tomorrow!"
"I couldn't wait to see you again, so I came tonight!" he yelled back.
"I'm glad you did. We'll just get this over with all the sooner."
"Get what over with?"
"Killing you, Braxton."
"Slade! Be careful!" Alyssa called out to him, wanting to let him know that the Kid did not have her and that she was unhurt.
"Stay down!" he ordered.
"Why, Mr. Pinkerton? You worried she might get hurt?"
"This is between the two of us, Kid. Leave her out of it."
"You're wrong. She's in this. She's the one who ruined the jailbreak in Green River. If it hadn't been for her, Johnson and Nash would still be alive!"
"Maybe, maybe not. I was one of the men you were trying to break out, too, Kid. I would have brought you down myself, with or without her help. It's over now. You may as well just throw down your guns and come on in. You're finished in the territory."
"Like hell, I am!"
"Hell's where you're going," Slade shouted back.
The Kid tightened his grip on his weapon as he looked around for some clue to Braxton's hiding place. He shifted his own position, hoping to get a clean shot at either him or the woman. He wanted them both dead, and if he managed to put a bullet in her, he was sure it would lure Braxton out into the open.
Slade moved slowly around the edge of the campsite, taking care to stay low, making his way in Alyssa's direction. He thanked God that she was still alive, and he planned to make sure that she stayed that way.
"Kid! Listen up! I've got men moving in on both sides of the canyon. There's no getting out of here for you. You'd be smart to surrender now."
Silence was the Kid's answer. Slade paused to listen, hoping to hear him moving around, but he heard nothing. It was quiet. He reached an opening and darted across it. The Kid fired at him immediately and only narrowly missed.
Alyssa had remained crouched behind some rocks, with Zeke's gun ready. When the Kid took his shot at Slade, she returned his fire. Her aim was good, but she did not hit h
im. He quickly disappeared again behind the rocks and foliage.
Slade heard her shot and knew he was getting close. In a frantic effort, he kept moving forward until he finally reached her side. He had never been so glad to see anyone alive and well in his entire life. Alyssa turned to him, and he clasped her in his arms, his embrace almost painful.
"Are you all right?" he whispered, his gaze sweeping over her, seeing her ruined clothing and the faint bruise already swelling her lip and cheek.
"Now that you're here, I'm fine," she whispered back, holding him tightly, never wanting to let him go.
Slade took Alyssa by the shoulders and held her back away from him for a moment, so he could feast his eyes upon her. "Thank God."
"I killed Zeke. I shot him with my derringer," she said softly, looking up at him with troubled eyes.
"I'm proud of you. If ever a man deserved killing, it was Zeke."
"I never thought I was capable of killing anyone, but-" She paused, trying to voice her deepest thoughts, thoughts that shocked her with their fierceness. "But I think I actually enjoyed pulling the trigger."
Slade touched her cheek gently, understanding exactly what she was feeling. "It's all right. You had to save yourself. If you hadn't shot him-" He let the sentence drop, not even wanting to consider what might have happened to her had he not been able to reach her in time.
"But I'm a justice of the peace. I'm supposed to uphold the law," she agonized. "I wanted to shoot him, though.... I had to shoot him...He had already killed my father and Rob, and God knows how many other people."
"And he would have killed you if he'd had half a chance. You did the right thing. It was self-defense," he said simply. "I'm just thankful you still had the derringer with you. I was so worried about you when Ken told me that Rob had been killed and you'd been kidnapped..."
He gave her a quick, tender kiss, taking care not to hurt her already injured lip.
"Oh, Slade," she sighed, agonizing over all that had passed and worrying about what was to come.
"We're going to end this with the Kid-right here, right now," Slade declared, looking back out across the clearing to see if he could spot the outlaw. "Do you have any idea where he's hiding?"
"The last shot he fired at you came from that big rock on the far end near the bushes," Alyssa said, pointing out the exact location to him.
"You stay here and cover me. Ken and Hawkins are working their way in, too. I'm going to try to circle around and see if I can get the drop on him."
"Watch out for him, Slade. Be careful. He wants you dead."
"I know."
He was grim as he tore himself away from her. He was going out to finish the job he'd started so many months ago. It was time to put an end to the Dakota Kid once and for all.
The Kid was usually very cool under pressure, but not tonight. He was beyond reason. He was furious. Zeke was dead, and he was left alone to face Braxton. He knew he could sneak away into the night and take him on another day, but it was too late for that. He was going to kill Braxton right here, right now.
"Kid! Give it up!" Slade called out again.
"Never, Braxton!" He wasn't about to turn himself in just so they could hang him. He'd rather be cut down in a shoot-out like a man than face a hangman's noose.
"You can't win. There's a posse waiting for you at the canyon entrance."
"Yeah, they may get me eventually, but even if they do, you and the lady judge will already be dead!" the Kid answered with a crazed laugh.
The Kid fired off two rounds in the direction of Slade's voice. As he did, a shot came from high above him, and he realized that Slade's men were almost in position. He wasn't about to sit there and let the men in the posse pick him off. If he was going to die, then he was taking the Pinkerton down with him!
Johnson, Nash and Zeke were all dead because of Braxton. Now it was his turn to die. The Kid's burning need for revenge was ruling his every thought, his every action. He fired off more shots in Braxton's direction. When he caught sight of the Pinkerton moving past some rocks, he fired again and ran out from his place of hiding to follow. He was going to chase his enemy down and shoot him like the dog he was.
Alyssa saw the Kid going after Slade, and she fired at him. Her shot came close, but missed. He returned her fire as he charged toward the spot where he'd last seen Slade. She shot again and again, but he was moving too fast for her. Her shots went wide. She knew she was down to her last bullet, so she waited, hoping for a better chance.
"You're a dead man, Braxton!" the Kid was yelling as he closed on him.
But Slade was ready. Though the Kid's shots were coming close to him, he did not run for better cover. He waited patiently, and when at last he had his best opportunity, he took it. He stood up, and as his gaze met the Kid's straight on, he fired at him. The bullet hit the gunman squarely in the chest.
"No, you're the dead man," Slade said tersely as he watched the outlaw's expression change from fury to complete shock.
"You bastard-I'll see you in hell!" the Kid swore as he collapsed to the ground.
Slade remained where he was, watching and waiting. The Kid lay unmoving. It was over. The Dakota Kid and his gang had been brought down.
"Oh, Slade!" Alyssa ran from her hiding place straight into his arms.
He held her close as relief surged through him. She was safe. It was over.
"Slade! Are you and Alyssa all right?" Ken shouted from his place above them on the canyon wall.
"Yeah. We're fine."
"And the Kid?"
"He's dead," Slade called back.
"We'll be right there!"
"I'm going to check on the Kid. Stay here," Slade told Alyssa as he gave her a soft kiss.
He released her as he looked over to where the Kid was sprawled in the dirt. They had won this night, but there was no real joy in the victory, for in winning much had been lost. The Kid and his Gang had left a trail of bloody death and destruction all across the territory. Slade was glad that it was over.
Slade walked toward the Kid, holstering his side arm as he went. There would be no more killing tonight. He stopped at the Kid's side and was reaching down to take the gun from his hand when the Kid's eyes opened.
The Kid stared up at Slade, his eyes aglow with the fever of his hatred. With the last of his strength he lifted his six-gun and shot at close range. The Kid gave a triumphant laugh and fell back.
Slade staggered a few steps. He turned toward Alyssa, and his gaze met hers for a fleeting moment before he collapsed in the dirt.
"Slade!" Alyssa screamed in horror.
She ran toward them, lifting the gun she held and firing her last bullet into the Kid point-blank.
One Year Later
At the soft sound of the baby's cry, Alyssa instinctively stirred and awoke. She was about to rise to go check on her son when the crying suddenly stopped. Alyssa frowned wondering at the silence, and then she heard Emily talking softly.
"Shhh, J.R.Don't cry," she was telling her nephew in a whisper. "Aunt Emily's going to take care of you this morning, so your mama and papa can sleep a little longer."
Alyssa smiled and lay back. It was sweet of her sister to take him like that, and she would be sure to thank her later-after she'd gotten a little more rest.
"Maybe we should invite Emily and Ken to come and visit us more often," Slade suggested in a sleep husky voice as he turned to take his wife in his arms.
"That's fine with me. Since they got married and moved to Denver so Ken could take that office job for the agency, we haven't had the chance to visit very often. Maybe you should offer Ken a job as one of your deputies," she said with a smile. She doubted Ken would take it, though, for he'd been promoted at the agency. Slade had quit the Pinkertons just before they'd married to become sheriff of Black Springs.
"It's about time I got to enjoy time alone with you in bed," Slade said with a smile.
"Oh?" Alyssa played the innocent, but she smiled back at him inviting
ly. "I have to admit, it does feel decidedly decadent to just lie here like this while Emily takes care of J.R."
"Decadent? I like the sound of that."
Slade pulled her into his arms, his mouth taking hers in a hungry exchange. In all the months they'd been married, he'd never tired of loving her. She was everything he'd ever wanted in a woman.
Alyssa returned his kiss with fervor, wrapping her arms around him. She loved him with all her heart, and she wanted him to know it.
There had been many times over the months since they'd married when the memory of the terrifying showdown with the Kid and Zeke crept into her thoughts. To this day, that memory still had the power to leave her almost paralyzed with fear. Slade meant so much to her that if he had been killed that day, she was certain she would have died, too-from a broken heart.
She still remembered the horror that had gripped her when she'd watched the Kid shoot Slade in that final, deadly confrontation. His treacherous attack had taken her by surprise, and she'd been helpless to prevent it. She thanked God every day that he'd survived his devastating wound.
When the kiss ended, Alyssa trailed her lips down his throat in a sensuous caress and then moved lower to press them to the terrible scar on his chest from the near-deadly gunshot. Slade gave a low groan at the intimacy of her touch and drew her back up to him for another passionate kiss.
"T almost lost you that day," she said, gazing down at him, all the love she felt for him shining in her eyes.
"It would take more than just a gunshot wound to get rid of me. I think you're stuck with me for eternity, lovely lady."
She smiled. "I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend eternity with."
"I love you, Alyssa."
They came together then to celebrate the joy of their union. They had their son, John Robert, and they had each other. Their happiness was complete.